A copartnership consisting of charles s



c s. PECK.

FUR SKIN CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 3. I918.

1,321,665. Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

/7 m I z i r i .INVENTOR IIH ATTORNEY C. S. PECK.

FUR SKIN CUTTING MACHiNE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.3. 19m.

1 {321,665. Patentd Nov. 11,1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

\L/ Mums H t V I I h M Hill.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE.

CHARLES S. PECK, OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT,

ASSIGNOR TO PECK FUR COMPANY, OF

DANBURY, CONNECTICUT, A COPARTNEESI-IIP CONSISTING OF CHARLES E5. PECK AND SIDIN'E} C. PECK.

FUR-SKIN-CUTTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

Application filed September 3, 1918. Serial No. 252,349.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. PEoK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Danbury, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in Fur-Skin-Cutting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the class of machines used for cutting the fur from the skins of rabbits and other fur bearing animals, the fur being used principally in the manufacture of fur felt hats, and the invention has for its object to greatly improve the construction and operation of the machine, the special purposes being to avoid waste of fur, which now brings a very high price, to wholly do away with packing of the cylinder cap, which has heretofore been necessary, and to provide novel adjustments which greatly simply and improve the oper ation of the machine.

It is of course well understood by those familiar with the art that the cutter cylinder in this class of machines, rotates at a high velocity, two thousand or more rotations per minute, and that the knives which project radially and spirally from the cylinder extend from one-fourth to five-eighths of an inch therefrom. The rotation of this cylinder with its knives produces a very strong draft or air current which has heretofore caused a serious loss of high grade fur which has been drawn into the machine and passed out through the suction pipe as second grade fur. This loss of high grade fur has heretofore been prevented to a certain extent by packing theinterior of the cylinder cap with fur and waste. This has been effected by smearing the inner side of the cylinder cap with oil and throwing waste and fur upon it, a portion of which would adhere to the oil and thus make a more or less unsatisfactory packing which might stay in place for a day or two but more often for a short time only, repacking being necessary every time the packing comes out, and it being necessary to remove the cap and take out the cylinder for-the purpose of grinding the knives, usually twice a day.

My present invention overcomes this difficulty' entirely, renders packing of the cylinder cap unnecessary and practically eliminates the loss of high grade fur which has heretofore been unavoidable.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my novel machine;

{fig 2 a plan view on an enlarged scale, an

Fig. 8 is a vertical section thereof.

10 denotes the bed, 11 the cutter cylinder, 12 the cylinder knives, which are arranged spirally and radially relatively to the cylinder, 13 the bed knife, 11 the feed rolls, and 15 the suction pipe.

The skins to be operated upon are passed through the feed rolls fur side down and the fur is removed therefrom and the skin is cut into narrow strips through cooperation of the cylinder knives with the bed knife. The for drops down toward the left, as seen in Fig. '3, and passes down an in cline 16 and onto a traveling apron 17 by which it is removed. The strips of skin and heavy waste drop upon an incline l8 and pass out the opposite side of the machine, and the dust is removed through the suction pipe.

19 denotes the cylinder cap, the inner side of which corresponds with the curvature of the circle described by the cylinder knives and which is detachably secured to the bed. In order to compensate for the wearing away of the cylinder knives and also'to prevent any air draft which might draw fur away from the fleece, so called, that is the fur removed from the skin which should all pass down incline 16, I provide the cap with an adjustable angle or gage plate 20, and with an adjustable pad or brush 21. The cylinder cap is made relatively heavy and is provided with a horizontal upper surface, indicated by 22, over which the horizontal portion of the gage plate is adapted to slide. 23 denotes way plates secured to the cap between which the gage plate slides. The gage plate is provided with ears 24 which carry adjusting screws 25, said screws rotating freely in the ears without longitudinal movement, and having threaded engagement with cars 26 on the cap. The use of two adjusting screws enables me to adjust the ends of the gage plate independently. The lower end of the depending portion of the gage plate is beveled or concaved to correspond approximately with the curvature of the circle described by the cylinder knives. This curved cooperating portion of the gage plate is set quite close to the edges of the erable construction although not essential.

As a means of adjustment the pad is pro vided near its free edge with hinged locking screws 28 which areadapted to swing into slots in ears 29 on' the cylinder cap which projects over the pad. Wing nuts 30 on the screws engage the ears and force the pad into close engagement with the edges of the cylinder knives. The desired adjustment is retained by means of nuts 31 on the 'locking screws which are turned into engagement with the underside of the slotted ears, see Fig. 3 in connection with Fig. 2.

" an essential feature of the invention.

The special construction of the pad is not In practice I have used a pad formed from tufts of bristles, as shown in the drawing, and find it entirely satisfactory. V

In order to insure an even and regular feeding of the skins at the center, that is midway between the ends oft'he bed knife and the cutter cylinder, I have provided a novel adjustment of the feed roll journal bearing blocks which are indicated by 32. These bearing blocks are provided with slots 38, shown as inclined, which receive the journals of the feed rolls. One of the journals of the upper feed roll carries a belt pulley 35,. The other ends of both feed roll journals carry intermeshing pinions 36 which lie outside the "bearing block] 37 denotes reta'ining blocks which are slidable in the slots inthe bearing blocks, the retaining block at the pulley 'end being held in place by a pin 38 and the retaining block at the other ,end by a lever 39 which engages the outer end of the block and carries a weight 40.

. The bearing blocks rest upon carrying plates 4:1. The carrying plates are vertically adjustable in recesses 42 in the bed by means or adjusting screws 43 and are locked in place after adjustment by means of screws 44 which pass through vertical slots in the carrying plates and engage the bed. The bearing blocks are adjustable on the carrying plates with relation to the cutter cylinder. I haveshown-as a means of adjusts ment flattened bolts 45 which extend upward from the carrying plates and pass through slots in the bearing blocks. Nuts All on the bolts lock the bearing blocks in place after adjustment. It will thus be seen that I provide independent vertical adjustment and lateral adjustnlent for each end of the feed roll journals, which enables me to adjust the feed rolls with the required accuracy to insure an even and regular center feed of the skins, that is I prevent any tendency of the skins to feed sidewise in either direction.

The bed knife is vertically adjustable and also bodily adjustable toward and from the cutting cylinder in the usual manner which is clearly illustrated and is not thought to require description in detail.

I have also illustrated driving connections which I shall not describe in detail as specifically they form no part of the present invention and may moreover be greatly varied without affecting the operativeness of the machine.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A machine of the character described, comprising a cutter cylinder, a cylinder cap having an adjustable pad, and means for adjusting the pad relatively to the cutter cylinder.

2. A machine of the character described, comprising a cutter cylinder, a cylinder cap, a curved pad hinged to the cap, and means for adjusting the pad relatively to the cylinder.

3. A machine of the character described, comprising a cutter cylinder, a cylinder cap, a brush pad forming part of the cap, and means for .adjusting said pad relatively to the cylinder.

at. A machine of the character described, comprising a cutter cylinder, a cylinder cap, a pad hinged to the cap and provided with swinging locking screws, ears on the cap adapted to be engaged by the locking screws, and nuts on the screws engaging the ears to lock the pad at any required adjustment relatively to the cylinder.

5. A machine of the character described, comprising acutter cylinder, a cylinder cap having a horizontal surface, a gage plate adapted to slide over said surface and hav ing a depending portion, and means for adjusting each end of the gage plate laterally with relation to the cutter cylinder.

6. A machine of the character described, comprising a cutter cylinder, a cylinder cap,

' a hinged pad forming a part of the cap, a

gage plate carried by the cap, and means for adjusting said pad and said gage plate relatively to the cutter cylinder.

7. In a. machine of the character described the combination of a cutter cylinder, a bed knife, feed rolls, and means at each end of the feed rolls for imparting independent vertical and lateral adjustments thereto with by which the bearing blocks are carried, relation to the cutter cylinder, whereby cenmeans for adjusting the bearing blocks latter feed of the skins is insured. erally with relation to the cutter cylinder, 10 8. In a machine of the character described and means for adjusting the carrying plates 5 the combination of a cutter cylinder, a bed vertically. knife, feed rolls, bearing blocks in which In testimony whereof I afiix my signature. the feed rolls are journaled, carrying plates CHARLES S. PECK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents,

Washington, I). 0. 

